Farmers decry rising cases of theft of farm produce

Meru, Wednesday, May 24, 2023

KNA by Dickson Mwiti

Farmers in Murinya area of Buuri East Sub-County in Meru County have decried the rising cases of theft of green maize in their farms.

The farmers told Kenya News Agency (KNA) that the incidences of theft take place at night and they have been forced to either employ guards to watch over their farms or do it on their own.

Mr Gerald Kirimi, a farmer from the area said he had planted maize on his one-acre farm but it was unfortunate that the thieves had stolen almost half of the maize that was there.

“I cannot imagine that they have harvested half of the maize that I struggled to plant considering the fact that I had to borrow money to buy planting seeds,” said Mr Kirimi.

He added that the thieves had connections with green maize traders and that’s the reason they were determined to commit the crime.

“Maize that was planted when the rains started is yet to mature and a few of us who planted earlier are getting these troubles due to the high demand,” Mr Kirimi said.

Ms Marion Kaari, another farmer from the area said her farm was also invaded last night and almost all the maize that was there harvested by unknown people.

“I was planning to sell the maize and pay at least half of my children’s school fees but up to now I have nowhere to hold on to,” said Ms Kaari.

She called on security officers in the area to take care of the situation before residents start taking law into their hands.

“We don’t want to be forced into hunting down and taking actions against the perpetrators because we can do it. Let police officers in conjunction with our local administrators curb this before things get out of hand,” said Ms Kaari.

Murinya Assistant Chief Josephine Kinanu has since issued a stern warning against the criminals adding that they were carrying out investigations to identify and take actions against them.

She also advised the victims to hand over any suspect to the police rather than taking action against them.